Year: 2020

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The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling – Book Review

 

Title: The Canyon’s Edge
Author: Dusti Bowling
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 8, 2020

It’s Eleanor’s birthday. After losing her mother in a random shooting on her birthday last year, her and her father, both white, decide to explore a slot canyon in the desert. Away from people. Away from crowds. Away from danger. Or so they think. Shortly into their trip, a flash flood separates the two, leaving Nora without supplies. When the waters recede, she is forced to traverse the canyon alone to find her father. Along the way she must battle deadly creatures, persevere through dehydration and hunger, and ultimately face the trauma that has been haunting her dreams for a year. With every minute edging her closer to death, Nora must dig deep to survive and save her father. Hopefully, she can do it before it’s too late.

The Canyon’s Edge adds an engaging story to the burgeoning number of novels told in verse. Prose bookends the novel, showcasing author Dusti Bowling’s writing talent. In between, the verse allows for deep analysis and makes Eleanor’s experiences palpable. Readers will descend into the canyon with Eleanor, sense her panic, get lost in the chaos, taste the ache of thirst, and viscerally feel much more. Bowling accomplishes this feat through the structure of the verse. The cascading poetry brilliantly reflects Eleanor’s physical experiences. As a result, readers will not be able to put the novel down, with many consuming the narrative in one sitting. The Canyon’s Edge also adds to the growing collection of books where characters acknowledge, cope with, and begin to overcome trauma. The canyon aptly reflects Nora’s transformation, but the trip itself would surely be trauma-inducing. Therefore, the process of exchanging one traumatic experience to overcome another threatens to trivialize these experiences. It is a minor critique in an otherwise excellent narrative, but as schools push to recognize and address these topics in their student populations, it is an important one to note. Trauma is never replaced, after all. It remains with a person, and its lasting effects need to be considered through that lens.

Dusti Bowling’s The Canyon’s Edge offers teachers a wealth of material for deep analysis and exploration. From the verse to the structure of the verse to the extended metaphor for Eleanor’s transformation, the novel will surely be a favorite among teachers when examining poetry. The adventure and action-packed plot are an added bonus that will keep students engaged, on the edge of their seats, and begging to read more. The Canyon’s Edge is a win-win for the classroom, and I suspect the book will find itself in countless classrooms for the 2020-2021 school year.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, for an eARC of this book.

Classroom Applications

  • Cross-Curricular Study – Teach the novel as part of a poetry unit and in conjunction with a nonfiction study of desert ecosystems, trauma, or survival strategies.
  • Book Club or Book Exchange – Share the novel with students that enjoy reading realistic fiction.
  • Literature Circles – Use novel for small groups or choice reading with a variety of books that are written in verse.

Nonfiction Connections

The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.

  • Slot Canyons
  • Desert Ecosystem
  • Survival Strategies
  • Trauma
  • Coping with Trauma & PTSD

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with The Canyon’s Edge. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

  • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson (Novel Structure, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
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Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk – Book Review

 

Title: Echo Mountain
Author: Lauren Wolk
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 21, 2020

As the Great Depression devastates the country, Ellie and her family have had to make difficult choices and even more difficult sacrifices. After her parents fall victim to the economic crisis, the family moves away from town and carves out a life from the harsh and unforgiving landscape around Echo Mountain. Survival requires hard work, skill, and a will to conquer any obstacle brought on by Mother Nature. While Ellie and her family make a life on Echo Mountain, tragedy befalls the family when Ellie’s father is struck by a falling tree and lies in a coma for months. Ellie unfairly but obligingly shoulders the blame for the accident. Her desire to help and heal others motivates her to do whatever it takes to bring her father back. As Ellie traverses the mountain, she meets new people, identifies new needs, and discovers new ways to heal, giving her the hope and the insight to bring peace to all that have been suffering on Echo Mountain.

Lauren Wolk is one of the best middle grade authors to date, and Echo Mountain is another testament to this bold statement. The writing is exquisite, the tale’s threads are tangled and tantalizing but always connected together, and she skillfully transforms nature into a character unto itself. Harking back to simpler times, readers may find themselves yearning to be outdoors after being immersed in Wolk’s spellbinding prose. The vivid imagery of Ellie’s experiences will remain imprinted in the mind’s eye long after the last page. In addition to Wolk’s expressive prose, Echo Mountain’s lessons are not easily learned, they are earned. Ellie and company work tirelessly to persevere and overcome. Such lessons are balanced by the characters’ imperfections, and these flaws make their journeys not only interesting but also relatable. Yes, Ellie presents as older and more mature than twelve, and the novel does grow sprawling and verbose. Still, Wolk’s writing is so good any reader would gladly stay immersed in the story for another hundred pages in order to consume more of her beautiful prose.

Echo Mountain is a fantastic work of fiction. Teachers should certainly encourage students to read Wolk’s novel. It will challenge them. It will change them. Students willing to take on Echo Mountain will be rewarded in more ways than one. Such transformations cannot be predicted but can be counted on thanks to the clear links to universal themes Wolk’s vivid writing conjures. All characters assume the White Default.

Classroom Applications

  • Cross-Curricular Study – Teach the novel in conjunction with a nonfiction study of the Great Depression, mountain life, or survival skills.
  • Book Club or Book Exchange – Share the novel with students that enjoy reading historical fiction.
  • Literature Circles – Use novel for small groups or choice reading with a variety of books that are about life in the U.S. during the Great Depression.

Nonfiction Connections

The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.

  • The Great Depression
  • Mountain Life
  • Survival Skills

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with Echo Mountain. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

  • Pixie Pushes On by Tamara Bundy (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
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Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley – Book Review

 

Title: Fighting Words
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Publisher: Dial Books
Release Date: August 11, 2020

Della and Suki are sisters bound by love, the desire to protect one another, and – unfortunately – trauma. After escaping their mother’s abusive boyfriend, the sisters find themselves in foster care under the care of Francine. As ten-year-old Della and sixteen-year-old Suki adjust to their new lives, they begin to cope with and process the true horrors of their past. Grief, anger, and confusion threaten to take even more from the girls until they finally start to get the help they need. Ultimately, the help allows them to start envisioning a future they want to see instead of living in the dark shadows of the past.

Fighting Words is a challenging, gut-wrenching novel. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley creates a memorable cast of characters, a spirited and honest perspective through Della, and a plot, brimming with emotion. It is hard to read and even harder to put down. The nature of the topics discussed and the depth and honesty with which they are treated rightly make it complex and mature. Is Fighting Words middle grade? Yes. Should young people read it? Depends on the young person. Will people try to ban it? Absolutely. Will others want to see the book in everyone’s hands? Without a doubt.

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s novel casts an important light on topics that remain woefully unaddressed in society today. As Bradley’s note at the books’ conclusion emphasizes, the statistics on sexual abuse are staggering and other traumatic circumstances affect more children than should be accepted in our society. Therefore, Fighting Words is a perfect book for some – young people that are in search for words to tell their story, trusting that someone will listen; young people that need to see themselves in a story and walk away with the hope that happy endings are not just fiction; or young people that are mature enough to read and understand the privilege of their life.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Dial Books, for an eARC of this book.

Classroom Applications

  • Book Club or Book Exchange – Share the novel with students that enjoy reading realistic fiction.
  • Literature Circles – Use novel for small groups or choice reading with a variety of books that touch on characters coping with trauma.

Nonfiction Connections

The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.

  • Foster Care System
  • Trauma
  • Sexual Abuse Statistics and Resources for Help

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with Fighting Words. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

  • Maybe He Just Likes You  by Barbara Dee (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Chirp by Kate Messner (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
  • When You Know What I Know by Sonja K. Solter (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
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The Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac – Book Review

 

Title: The Peacemaker
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Publisher: Dial Books
Release Date: October 27, 2020

The five tribes of the Iroquois have been embroiled in an endless cycle of raiding, war, and death. Nowhere is safe, and when twelve-year-old Okwaho and his best friend go fishing, they are captured by a neighboring tribe. Although Okwaho escapes, the pain and anger of losing his best friend consumes him until vengeance seems like the only remedy. However, a mysterious and captivating figure arrives, bringing a message and plan for peace. Okwaho, his village, and the rest of the Iroquois tribes must decide whether to put down their weapons and replace their thirst for revenge or continue the cycle of war that risks the destruction of their people.

Joseph Bruchac retells the story of Iroquois Confederacy’s creation in The Peacemaker. The author’s inclusion of numerous stories and folktales helps emphasize important themes and develop other literary elements. The telling is not overly dramatic or action-packed, but this natural ebb and flow is not a shortcoming. Instead, it immerses the reader in the time period. Told through the eyes of a young person, readers learn how feelings of anger and revenge fuel the vicious cycle of war. However, an alternative always exists. Through song, storytelling, or a messenger of hope, there are constant messages that peace is possible. The underlying idea about a person being able to choose to bring it about is powerful. Many a reader may find that The Peacemaker not only brings peace to the Iroquois people, but it may just bring some peace to them as well. It is an important tale; it is a real story; and it surely resonates today.

The Peacemaker would be an excellent novel to teach in conjunction with a nonfiction study of First Nations in North America prior to and after the arrival of Europeans. The Iroquois Confederacy’s accomplishments and the subsequent maltreatment of them by the European colonists would only serve to underscore those incredible accomplishments. It would also highlight not only the importance of peace but also its fragility. Such a cross-curricular experience would draw out important lessons and effectively put them in history’s broader context for students.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Dial Books, for an eARC of this book.

Classroom Applications

  • Cross-Curricular Study – Teach the novel in conjunction with a nonfiction study of the history of First Nations in North America, especially prior to the arrival of Europeans.
  • Literature Circles – Use novel for small groups or choice reading with a variety of books about First Nations of North America in a range of settings across centuries.

Nonfiction Connections

The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.

  • The Iroquois Confederacy
  • History of the Six Great Nations of the Iroquois
  • History of Democracy
  • Great Law of Peace and the U.S. Constitution

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with The Peacemaker. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
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Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson – Book Review

 

Title: Before the Ever After
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Release Date: September 1, 2020

Summary

ZJ’s father, a professional football player, is loved by all – fans, friends, and especially his family. Although Zachariah “44” Johnson is a menace on the field, he is anything but off of it. He is loving, caring, considerate, attentive, and honorable. As the football season drags on, ZJ’s father finds himself off the field more and more, suffering from seemingly inexplicable headaches and other worrisome symptoms. When ZJ’s father is sidelined for good, the family’s struggle to cope with the devastating effects of Zachariah’s chronic brain trauma just begins.

 

Review

Jacqueline Woodson’s Before the Ever After is a superb, moving piece of literature. Told in verse, Woodson’s stunning story will deeply move readers of any age. It is, quite simply, outstanding. Woodson’s writing style is at once lyrical and stark as it intimately portrays a family coping with a new, grim reality. Through the challenges that arise from the physical and mental suffering of ZJ’s father’s and ZJ’s grief over an abrupt end to a beloved way of life, readers are forced to confront tough questions about sport, the love of the game, and the responsibility of an individual and organization for the health and wellbeing of its players. There are no easy answers, especially when one starts to consider how society values those that give their mind, body, and soul to sports for the entertainment and enjoyment of others.

Before the Ever After is a must-read. Its execution is exquisite. Its depth bottomless. Its importance paramount. ZJ’s and his family’s story will resonate with lovers of the game of football, watchers of the game, and haters of the game. It is accessible to everyone for reasons far beyond sport. A teacher only needs to decide how deeply they want their students to explore the challenging themes and topics Before the Ever After cultivates.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Nancy Paulsen Books, for an eARC of this book.

 

Classroom Applications

  • Cross-Curricular Study – Teach the novel in conjunction with a nonfiction study of sports and CTE.
  • Literature Circles – Use novel for small groups or choice reading with a variety of books about sports.

 

Nonfiction Connections

The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.

  • CTE
  • Professional Sports
  • Sports

 

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with Before the Ever After. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

  • Rebound by Kwame Alexander (Character Connections, Themes, Novel Structure, Nonfiction Connections)
  • Pop by Gordon Korman (Character Connections, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – Book Review

 

Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: May 19, 2020

Suzanne Collins treats fans of the Hunger Games series with a return trip to the Capitol. This tale provides insight into how the Hunger Games came to be a Capitol tactic to control the Districts. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes also serves as President Snow’s origin story, following him as a young teenager and mentor for the 10th annual Hunger Games. While the novel’s premise is promising, the execution is lackluster. Snow is, was, and always be evil, and his origin story only highlights this fact. While most villain origin stories offer an arc involving a good person’s unraveling, Snow’s mentorship in the Games only amplifies the worst in him. The surprise of breaking that typical arc is noted, but since it proved there was little left to be revealed, it left much to be desired. After all, how do you write a dramatic story about an emotionless villain? Unfortunately, without emotion and without much novelty. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes spends too much time trying to emulate the success of the Hunger Games Trilogy instead of trying to find its legs as a worthy story by its own right. It is not until the last chapters where Snow’s character development truly begins. By then, it is too late, and many disappointed readers might not stick with the story to find out.

Classroom Applications

  • Book Club or Book Exchange – Share the novel with students that enjoyed reading The Hunger Games trilogy.

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.